The Benched Piper
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day sixty-two: 12 Days of Gleekmas, Day 11: Mercedes wakes up one morning to find her voice is gone..


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle. Now entering the seventh through ninth weeks, here comes cycle 3 of my gleekathon!_

_I wanted to do something Christmas-y, but not overly so, but then the song was perfect for this. So the stories in and of themselves aren't Christmas-themed, just the thing that inspired them is ;) You'll see :)_

_So presenting... **The 12 Days of Gleekmas - Day 11:** Mercedes + "Eleven Pipers Piping"_

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**"The Benched Piper"  
Mercedes**

She hadn't realized anything was wrong, not at first. She'd woken up with her throat a little sore, but she wasn't really awake enough to care. And until she really woke up, she wasn't too much of a chatterbox anyway.

It was on her way to school that she finally discovered something was up. Her voice was gone. Nothing left of it. Trying to talk would only bring her a squeak and pain in her throat. She felt just a hint of panic.

When she arrived at school, she ran into Mr. Schuester almost right away, of course. Once he figured out what was going on, he tried to get her to go home, but she strongly refused. She got out her phone and her fingers danced over the keys to write up a plea to let her stay, let her sit in at Glee practice that afternoon. It was a bit of a battle, but he finally agreed, telling her what she needed to do to try and help her get her voice back.

Most of the day went by with her not thinking too much about this whole situation. The one perk of this thing was that she didn't need to worry about getting called on during class. She could just sit there and let everybody else squirm.

That all went away when she had to go and sit out Glee practice. The others all gave her encouraging smiles, pats on the arm… but then they all got to starting singing along while she sat back and watched.

She'd been singing since she was a kid. She remembered clear as day the moment where her grandmother had proclaimed that "with that voice in you, you'll be unstoppable."

It had been that one thing… that thing that she had working for her no matter what anyone said or whatever happened. It was her power, which made her who she was now. It had shaped her, only now without it she felt she wouldn't be able to hold that shape… she'd deflate, crumble…

She knew this was temporary, that her throat would heal and her voice would fill her once again, fortify her… but without it there now, it was that much easier to let her mind wander and start thinking… what if it didn't return?

What if she could never sing anymore? Had she been too cocky, thinking this would be the gift that kept on giving, when in fact she was only meant to have it for a few glorious years and then… boom… all gone.

Rachel was just going to love this, spotlight all to herself…

She almost stomped off mid-practice. But then she thought and she decided that wouldn't be right. She was going to stay, and show Ra… Show the club that she was Mercedes Jones, she had that voice – or would have it again soon – and she'd be right back where she belonged in no time.

She left McKinley and headed home once it was over. Her parents wouldn't be home from work for a while longer. She put her bag down and went into the kitchen to work up one of Mr. Schuester's remedies. Drinking it up, it did feel good… It gave her hope that this was a good sign, that this would all resolve itself in time.

When her mother got home, finding out what was going on, she slipped right into attentive mama mode. There was soup on the stove by the time she'd finished Schuester's remedy.

The real problem was just… she missed it… She'd joined Glee Club to get a chance to exercise her gift, her joy… It was always such a thrill now, to know Glee practice was coming and she'd get to let loose, let her voice loose…

Her family was always on board with all of it, made proud by what she was accomplishing. They had something together, with her and the music. She wasn't aware of it this much before this day, she was sure of it.

She'd spent the whole evening keeping absolutely quiet… It was necessary that she should relax, give her throat a chance. Maybe it would all be better in the morning.

It took more than one quiet night. It took three. It took all her willpower to keep herself silent, especially in having to sit and listen to Rachel and the others get excited over this number she couldn't participate in. She just felt ready to bust out, step out in front and blow everyone away.

But then her patience had paid off. She'd woken up and she felt it… she was better. Even if she could feel it though, she was still a bit… gun shy… voice shy. It could all be a dream.

Somehow she managed to hold it in a few more days so that, on the next practice, she was able to march in and, in her own blissful, marvellous, one-in-a-million voice, declare that she had returned.

She felt whole again, like an old friend was returned to her, and they had so much to catch up on. She was not letting her old friend leave her again.

THE END


End file.
